Asus P5WDG2-WS: Intel 975X goes to Work
by Gary Key on December 6, 2005 12:05 AM EST- Posted in
- Motherboards
Test Setup
The Intel 975X chipset fully supports the 820, 830, and 840 dual core Pentium D processors in both stock and overclocked conditions. This chipset also supports the upcoming Presler and Cedar Mill processor range. Dual core really makes a difference in certain multi-tasking scenarios, as was demonstrated in the dual core performance preview. If you are interested in how the various chipsets perform in a real world multitasking setup, please take another look at that review.
NVIDIA SLI Performance
Although the performance does not match the newer 81.xx series of drivers, the 975X boards are still competitive with the nForce4 Intel Edition SLI setup considering the beta condition of the non-certified drivers used. We noticed some graphic anomalies with the Asus P5WDG2-WS in the benchmarks that explains the lower scores compared to the Gigabyte board.
The ability of the 975X based boards to run both ATI CrossFire and NVIDIA SLI setups is definitely a marketing plus, but until Intel licenses and NVIDIA fully certifies and sanctions SLI on the Intel platform, we can only wonder what the impact would be in the market.
Overclocking Performance
The overclocking performance graphs have been added to the standard benchmark test suite and should allow for a better comparison on the overclocking capabilities of tested boards. For more details on the specific overclocking abilities of this board, please refer to the Overclocking and Memory Stress Test section in the Basic Features section.
The Intel 975X chipset fully supports the 820, 830, and 840 dual core Pentium D processors in both stock and overclocked conditions. This chipset also supports the upcoming Presler and Cedar Mill processor range. Dual core really makes a difference in certain multi-tasking scenarios, as was demonstrated in the dual core performance preview. If you are interested in how the various chipsets perform in a real world multitasking setup, please take another look at that review.
| Performance Test Configuration | |
| Processor(s): | Intel Pentium 840EE (3.2GHz, 800FSB, Dual-Core, 2x1MB L2, HT) utilized for all tests |
| RAM: | 2 x 512MB Corsair CM2X512A-5400UL revision 1.3 Settings- DDR2-667 as noted at (CL3-2-2-8) |
| Hard Drive(s): | 2 x Maxtor MaXLine III 7L300S0 300GB 7200 RPM SATA (16MB Buffer), 1 x Maxtor MaXLine III 7L300R0 300GB 7200 RPM IDE (16MB Buffer) |
| System Platform Drivers: | Intel Chipset Software - 7.2.2.1006 |
| Video Cards: | 1 x XFX 7800GTX OC (PCI Express) for standard tests 2 x MSI 7800GTX (PCI Express) for SLI test |
| Video Drivers: | NVIDIA nForce 81.95 WHQL NVIDIA nForce 78.01 Modified for SLI test |
| Operating System(s): | Windows XP Professional SP2 |
| Motherboards: | Asus P5N32-SLI Deluxe Gigabyte GA-G1 975X Gigabyte GA-8I955X Royal |
NVIDIA SLI Performance
Although the performance does not match the newer 81.xx series of drivers, the 975X boards are still competitive with the nForce4 Intel Edition SLI setup considering the beta condition of the non-certified drivers used. We noticed some graphic anomalies with the Asus P5WDG2-WS in the benchmarks that explains the lower scores compared to the Gigabyte board.
The ability of the 975X based boards to run both ATI CrossFire and NVIDIA SLI setups is definitely a marketing plus, but until Intel licenses and NVIDIA fully certifies and sanctions SLI on the Intel platform, we can only wonder what the impact would be in the market.
Overclocking Performance
The overclocking performance graphs have been added to the standard benchmark test suite and should allow for a better comparison on the overclocking capabilities of tested boards. For more details on the specific overclocking abilities of this board, please refer to the Overclocking and Memory Stress Test section in the Basic Features section.
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Tujan - Wednesday, December 7, 2005 - link
Can you tell us what power supply was used on this Asus multi-layered board ? What kind of power muscle did get used. ? [ ]Thanks.Didn't see it right off in table of 'Setup.
Gary Key - Wednesday, December 7, 2005 - link
We used the OCZ Power Stream 520. It is our standard power supply for testing. I have listed in the overclocking setup but not in the regular test setup. I will add that line in the next article.Thank you.
Kensei - Tuesday, December 6, 2005 - link
Cool quote from the man often referred to as the first US psychologist. The psychology building at Harvard, where he was a professor, is also named after him. And I'm pretty sure he got that honor without giving them a ton of money.Kensei
Saist - Tuesday, December 6, 2005 - link
just wondering how the board would compare using the Via Envy HT-S sound chip...Gary Key - Tuesday, December 6, 2005 - link
Would a Chaintech AV710 satisfy your question? ;->Hikari - Tuesday, December 6, 2005 - link
I have some horrible 945G board (don't ask, I use a 7800GT lol), and I can't even run PC2-6400 over 667, nor will the computer not crash if I put the bus over 205. :(So when are the 975x boards supposed to come out? I see some of the Intel boxes listed now in froogle (not usually in stock though), but not from Gigabyte, Asus, or anyone else yet. :) I'd be happy if it is before the 21st (my birthday). This Asus board looks like it'll be exceedingly expensive, though.
rrcn - Tuesday, December 6, 2005 - link
Boards featuring the 975X chipset should hit retail stores sometime this week. We'll see...Gary Key - Tuesday, December 6, 2005 - link
The 975x boards should be shipping in volume by the end of the year. We expect to see a small sampling of boards in the retail channel as early as next week but as always that could change.IntelUser2000 - Tuesday, December 6, 2005 - link
Right... I am gonna overclock my workstation system by 30%...."I'll overclock my server by 20% when 4 million people depend on it NOT TO CRASH!!"
Gary Key - Wednesday, December 7, 2005 - link
:->I know the overclock testing was a bit much for a "workstation" board but it does give an indication to the quality of the components used on the board.